Howard Jones. In 1925.
Sad to say, based on SC's hiring record, Kiffin and Sark, and even Helton, were the rule and not the exception. More often than not, the current OC gets the HC job when it opens.
Larry Smith had a solid record -- a lot like Matt Campbell -- and created some early optimism, but he was far from elite. Pete Carroll had a great coaching resume but no great results in limited time as a head coach.
I am waiting to read the deep-dive article on the history of Bohn's search. It should be fascinating.
Lincoln is one of the best coaches in college fb. His first job is to return to owning Southern California recruiting. If he does that they we will be contending for NTs within the first 3 years. His So cal recruiting class was better than Helton's/